Florida Gators win first NCAA men's outdoor track title

Tony McQuay, who begins the anchor leg with his relay team in second, crosses the line ahead of Southern Cal’s Bryshon Nellum to give Florida a victory in the 1,600-meter relay and the men’s national championship.

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The Gators, who have won three straight indoor titles, had finished second outdoors four times since 2004. But they finished with 50 points, two more than LSU.

"Unbelievable. It's an absolute blessing," Florida coach Mike Holloway said. "I can't tell you how proud I am of this group of young men."

The Gators are only the sixth program to sweep the men's indoor and outdoor titles in the same year and the first since Arkansas (2003).

Florida got a fifth-place finish from Eddie Lovett in the 110-meter hurdles. Then the title came down to the final race, the 1,600-meter relay.

Florida started the final lap second, behind Southern Cal and just ahead of LSU. If that would have held, the Gators and Tigers would have split the title. But Florida's Tony McQuay, who on Friday set an NCAA record in winning the 400, got past the Trojans' Bryshon Nellum while the Tigers' Riker Hylton remained in third.

"We knew what the team standings were," McQuay said. "And we came together like a family; as a team."

Florida State finished fourth with 38 points. Maurice Mitchell and Horatio Williams finished first and third, respectively, in the 200. The two also were part of the 400 relay that finished second. Michael Putman finished 23rd in the shot put.

USF finished 33rd with eight.

LSU won the women's title with 76 points. Oregon had 62 to finish second for the fourth straight year.

Florida finished tied for 12th with 18 points. Ciarra Brewer took fourth in the triple jump and Cory McGee sixth in the 1,500. Its 400 relay, which included Wharton High graduate Amani Bryant, took seventh.

FSU finished tied for 14th with 16. Michelle Jenije finished fourth in the triple jump. Amanda Wins­low and Violah Lagat finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1,500. And Kayleigh Tyerman finished 18th in the 5,000.

LSU wins wild game; then Stony Brook stays alive

BATON ROUGE, La. — A day after hitting tying homers in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, LSU won a suspended Game 1 of its Super Region 5-4 over Stony Brook in 12 innings, but the Tigers aren't headed to the baseball World Series yet.

In a game that started shortly afterward, Tyler Johnson allowed three hits and an unearned run as the Seawolves won 3-1 to even the best-of-three series. Game 3 is at 1 today (ESPN2).

Friday's game was suspended by rain tied at 4 after 11 innings. Kevin Gausman threw a perfect 12th for LSU as the game restarted Saturday morning, then Mason Katz, who homered in the 11th, singled home Tyler Moore, who homered in the 10th, to win it.

Gausman started Game 2 and allowed three runs over seven innings. But he was outdueled by Johnson. Including last week's region tournament, Johnson threw 356 pitches (127 on Saturday) over three games and nine days. But he said only he likely won't be available today.

"I think you might have to bury me in (LSU's) Alex Box Stadium," Johnson said. "As much as I'd like to (pitch), I don't know if that's going to happen. I'd do anything for this team, but I might fall apart."

Other games: Konner Wade allowed two earned runs in a complete game as host Arizona beat St. John's 7-4 for the sweep. … Logan Vick homered twice to lead host Baylor past Arkansas 8-1 in Game 1. … Michael Roth allowed six hits over 7⅔ innings as host South Carolina beat Oklahoma 5-0 in Game 1.

There is a reason why the air in Tampa Bay is filled with playoff talk. If Thursday night's 12-8 Bucs preseason win over the Jaguars is any indication, it's also going to be filled with footballs thrown by quarterback Jameis Winston.

TORONTO — Two pitches RHP Chris Archer didn't execute are the ones that stood out Thursday as Josh Donaldson hit them out of the park. But the two solo home runs aside, Archer turned in a sterling outing that went atop the pile of good pitching the Rays keep wasting.

CLEARWATER — Tracey Fritzinger has seen Tim Tebow play baseball a few times this year. The 40-year-old St. Petersburg resident went to two of his games against the Tampa Yankees, along with Joy, her little sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.